Mexico

Our trip started on the wrong foot. A scheduled 5 hour flight took us 8 hours. Thunder and lightning storms prevented us from making a safe landing in Peurto Vallarta, we tried 3 times. We flew down to Manzanillo, where we refueled and waited for the storm to clear. They could not let us off of the aircraft due to customs. So there we sat, on an idle plane, broken bathrooms, with nothing to eat at dinner time, only a measly bun and craisins in our bellies from lunch. There were about 5 or 6 babies on the plane, they were all angels, including mine. The adults on the other hand, crowding the aisles, shushing each other to hear the announcements, taking their shoes off and walking barefoot. Things didn't get better once we landed. We had to clear customs. This wouldn't have been so bad if we had gotten in line immediately, since we didn't realize we needed to fill the form out beforehand we went off to the side to do what we thought would take a while, when in reality it was a few silly questions that we could have filled out easily in line. The rest of customs went fine except the 200 other people in line in front of us and the humid air in the airport.

We make our way to the bus to take us to our hotel. The ride there was spent praying they would have something for us to eat. Luckily the restaurant was open another 30 minutes. Just in time for us to get in and get out with full bellies. The Buffet on the other hand, not what I was expecting at all. We ended up eating practically the same meal every day the whole week we were there. There was an a la carte restaurant as well but we read children were not allowed.

The next day was tough trying to get used to the heat and humidity. Feeling unsure about going in the sun much with Sweet Thing.
We decided to leave the hotel, we needed to get a few snacks and some water and we wanted to explore. So where do you go? Walmart of course. Yes...seriously, we went to Walmart in Mexico.
To be really honest, I didn't want to be in Mexico, especially after the flight there and I don't cope well with that type of heat. I was not a happy camper. We waited til the evening to go in the pool for the first time.
Sweet Thing loves the water.

A day or two pass, and in the evening none of us are feeling very well at all. Sweet Thing and I were fine by the morning but poor hubby was feeling awful, so the next two days were spent mostly in the hotel room. We were on the 18th floor. The very top floor, and the elevator was beyond slow. Carrying a baby in one arm and a bunch of soda crackers in the other was not an easy task.
We made some wonderful friends who we hung out by the pool with for a while. That was my favourite part of Mexico.
We hung out down on the beach where, merchant after merchant were after us, trying to get us to buy hammocks, and necklaces, temporary tattoos, dresses, and shrimp kabobs. That is the one major drawback of being on the beach. I understand that this is how some people make their money, but it is so darn frustrating, because you cant say yes to everyone and you feel bad about the stories (true or not) that they come up with to sucker you in.

We went down to the boardwalk one day where I really broke down, I was not having a good time, people were constantly after us about trying tequila and getting us to sign up for a timeshare. We were walking hand in hand, baby in the Ergo on daddy, when this man comes between us and puts a bracelet on my wrist and getting us to make him a deal, he put two more on my wrist and gave us a price, we'd had enough so we bought them and got in the nearest cab to get back to our hotel.

I hate to sound ungrateful, because I am very grateful, we had a wonderful opportunity to see something new, and a week to get away from our everyday lives. If we didn't have a baby with us, I think it would have been a much more enjoyable trip and we would have been able to do a lot more things like swimming with the dolphins, or a trek through the jungle, zip lining. So many opportunities. This was not a good family trip, unless all you want to do is sit on the beach or by the pool. Which is awesome of course, just not what everyone pictures when thinking of Mexico.

Now to end on a positive note. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time, most of the time, the sun came out every day after amazing thunder showers at night. The palm trees were beautiful, the ocean was warm, the sand hot on my feet, a light tan on my shoulders, and not a worry of the rest of my everyday world. We got to see a new culture, and feel blessed for the things we have and take for granted.